Kenyatta era minister Osogo dies at Kisumu hospital

Former Budalang’i MP James Charles Nakhwanga Osogo who has been one of the four surviving Jomo Kenyatta ministers has died after battling an illness.

Osogo, 91, died yesterday afternoon at the Aga Khan Hospital, Kisumu where he had been rushed for treatment.

Family members who declined to be named told the People Daily that Osogo has been in and out of hospital over the last two years, ostensibly because of advanced age.

Osogo was elected to the House of Representatives for Ruwambua, currently Budalang’i in 1963 and went on to be appointed as the first African Minister for Information and Broadcasting by the late Kenyatta at independence.

He variously served in the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Local Government, Health and Foreign Affairs as a Cabinet minister. After the death of President Kenyatta in 1978, Osogo was retained by the late President, Daniel arap Moi, serving in his government as deputy leader of Government Business in Parliament, Minister for Agriculture and later Minister for Livestock.

With the passing on of Osogo, only three Kenyatta-era ministers are left alive, among them Nathan Munoko (Public Works), Isaac Omolo Okero (Power and Communication) and Daniel Mutinda (Information and Broadcasting).

Born and raised in Bukani village in Bunyala District in 1932, Osogo attended St Mary’s Yala School.
After his training, he was employed as an Assistant Station Master at various railway stations in Kenya and Uganda.

When the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party was formed in 1960, Osogo was one of the first people to join. His stint in politics was characterised by his do-or-die rivalry with former Minister Peter Habenga Okondo.

When Kenyatta died in 1978, Osogo’s fortunes started to plummet and he found himself facing new challenges Osogo lost his parliamentary seat in 1981 with a heavy price — he was legally barred from contesting the seat for five years. In the ensuing by-election, he threw his weight behind a retired army officer named William Diffu.

In 1997, Osogo and Achieng’ Oneko were co-chairmen of the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group that successfully negotiated minimum reforms before that year’s elections. But in the 2002 General Election, he lost to a newcomer, Raphael Wanjala, for the now renamed Budalang’i constituency.